Blow as 2021 Drama Festival is off

In a further setback for the beleaguered hospitality industry in Athlone, it has been confirmed that, for the second year running, the RTE All Ireland Drama Festival will not take place next May.

The festival at the Dean Crowe Theatre is one of the biggest events on the town's calendar. It typically lasts for a week and a half, attracting competing drama groups and theatre-goers from all over the country.

Last Wednesday, the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland announced the pandemic had forced it to cancel its 3-Act festival circuit competition which would have been the qualifying route to the 2021 finals in Athlone

The Festival Director, Athlone’s Regina Bushell, told the Westmeath Independent that the organising committee was looking at alternative options for staging some drama events in the town next May.

These would be much-reduced in scale compared with a typical festival, however, and would possibly be held over the course of a weekend.

Regina said the loss of the 2021 festival was "a huge disappointment for so many people" who attend or take part in theatre productions.

"It is clear at this stage that the drama festival circuit, which normally takes place all around the country from February, ending with the finals in Athlone in May, will not be happening in 2021.

"The festival in Athlone has been going for the last 67 years, and it's now two years in a row where there won't be a festival as we have known it."

The Amateur Drama Council is due to announce plans for an alternative to its annual competition shortly, and Regina said the committee in Athlone would be considering various possibilities for staging some events next year.

"We will be doing our best to ensure that some of the (festival) fringe events continue," she said, adding that successful initiatives like the school playwright competition for transition year students should hopefully still go ahead.

She said the idea of erecting an outdoor stage in Athlone, to host some events, was also being examined.

"There are other fringe events that could take place, and we are looking at the possibility of an outdoor stage," she said.

"We will be talking to the council and Athlone Chamber to see if it is a feasible suggestion that could be used to allow various activities and events take place. We have to think outside the box.

"Taking the health guidelines into account, we will be working to ensure Athlone remains at the centre of drama in the country," she said.